Cyclone Kenneth: EXX Africa warns of risk of increased terrorist activities in the north

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Cyclone Kenneth: EXX Africa warns of risk of increased terrorist activities in the north

2:47 CAT | 02 May 2019

Access road to Chai administrative post, Macomia, April 27. Photo: DW

The executive director of consultant EXX Africa told Lusa that the cyclones that devastated Mozambique could boost the activities of the terrorist group that has carried out attacks in the north of the country.

“In the short term, the cyclone will have two effects on the conflict in the province of Cabo Delgado,” where most of international companies’ natural gas activity is taking place, Robert Besseling says.

“If the government can’t offer the people of Ibo shelter, they will be forced to go further inland, where they would be more vulnerable to attacks or recruitment by the rebels,” he argues.

“With the cereal plantations in Macomia and Quissanga destroyed and being replaced by food donated by international aid, the traditional way of procuring food by the insurgents, which is to force civilians to give them part of their crop, or grow their own, has been blocked, increasing the likelihood of local distributors of international aid being attacked.”

“It is difficult to put a number on the increase in the likelihood of these attacks without knowing the food reserves” the terrorists have, Besseling says, but “EXX Africa’s local sources warn that [aid] distributors must be careful in the coming months when travelling without escort to rebel-dominated places”.

“This risk to aid distributors will increase if one of the cyclone’s results is the concentration of many people in one place,” making them even more vulnerable.

Cyclone Kenneth, which struck northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania last week, destroyed thousands of homes and displaced tens of thousands of people, and is expected to result in more flooding.

The Mozambican government has confirmed at least 41 deaths and 39 injured so far and says the cyclone affected 35,228 families in the north of the country, partially destroying 32,000 houses, completely destroying 2,000 and devastating 31,000 hectares of productive land.

Source: Lusa